Cisco says it's been negotiating with Apple for years about using the name, and that those negotiations continued into last night. Apple CEO Steve Jobs didn't seem too concerned while making his blockbuster announcement about Apple's iPhone.

Here's the key part of a statement Cisco was handing out after a press Q&A my colleague Elena Malykhina attended at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas:

"Given Apple's numerous requests for permission to use Cisco's iPhone trademark over the past several years and our extensive discussions with them recently, it is our belief that with their announcement today, Apple intends to agree to the final document and public statement that were distributed to them last night and that addressed a few remaining items. We expect to receive a signed agreement today."

Cisco recently slapped the iPhone name across its line of voice-over-IP phones sold by its Linksys division, which has been selling some iPhone products for about a year.

It's so very odd that Apple would come out with its biggest product launch in years--a likely leap forward for mobile computing, something GigaOm predicts will "decrease our dependence" on laptops and desktops--and that the name remains in dispute.

We haven't heard back from Apple on this yet. We'll update if we do--or if Cisco gets that signed agreement it's expecting today.

UPDATE: Cisco has sued Apple over the iPhone name.